Charlotte

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday imposed massive fines against six banks, including Charlotte-based Bank of America. Bank of America must pay $205 million in fines related to foreign-trading practices from 2008 to 2013. A bank spokesman said the fines will be covered with existing reserves.

Mecklenburg County commissioners joined Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville and Mooresville in urging Gov. Pat McCrory and the N.C. Department of Transportation to delay finalizing a contract with a private company to build toll lanes on Interstate 77. Residents and local leaders say they have received little information about the project from the state.

Charlotte-based AvidXchange has acquired a Texas-based software company for an undisclosed amount. AvidXchange, which announced last year plans to add 600 jobs in Charlotte, provides accounts-payable software for midsized companies.

Charlotte-based developer Lincoln Harris is expected to sign a deal this week to buy The Charlotte Observer's 9.4-acre downtown property. The site, near Bank of America stadium and Duke Energy Center, is owned by the pension fund of McClatchy, the newspaper's parent company.

Leaders of Charlotte-based NewDominion Bank plan to raise capital by issuing millions of preferrred shares to the bank's largest investors, and some say the proposal puts common shareholders at a disadvantage. One of three community banks based in Charlotte, NewDominion has not posted an annual profit since 2008.

The Stonewall Street corridor in downtown Charlotte, which consists largely of vacant parcels and surface parking lots, is experiencing a construction boom, with hundreds of apartments, hotels and offices planned.

Matthews-based Family Dollar Stores, which is being acquired by Dollar Tree, looked at going private in 2007, the same year rival Dollar General was bought by KKR. The private-equity firm has been credited with improving operations and ultimately turning Dollar General around.

Federal prosecutors said Duke Energy twice refused to spend $20,000 on internal video inspections of the 48-inch broken pipe that led to the massive coal-ash spill into the Dan River in February 2014. The Charlotte-based utility was sentenced Thursday and must pay $102 million in fines and for environment projects.

Costa Rica and the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis will form a collaboration to advance research in food science. The agreement, which involves groups from N.C. State and N.C. A&T State University, will allow Costa Rican scientists to train and perform research at the NCRC.

Bank of America will move several hundred workers from its corporate real-estate group to outside firms CBRE and JLL. The bank said earlier this week that Charlotte-based Lincoln Harris would no longer manage its properties in the Southeast. Los Angeles-based CBRE and Chicago-based JLL will now manage all of BofA's buildings across the U.S. and globally.

National developer Camden USA offered the city of Charlotte $13.3 million for a 4-acre parcel on Stonewall Street. Atlanta-based apartment developer Pollack Shores had an agreement with the city to purchase the land for $12.2 million. A new upset bid period will end May 26.

Lawmakers from the I-77 corridor north of Charlotte are bringing concerns about proposed toll lanes to Gov. Pat McCrory in a last-ditch effort to find alternatives to the plan. The state is about to sign a $650 million contract with a private company to build and operate toll lanes in the 26-mile corridor ("Taking a Toll," April).

Delhaize Group, the Brussels-based parent company of Food Lion, and Netherlands-based Royal Ahold are in preliminary merger talks, according to Belgian newspapers. Ahold operates Stop & Shop grocery stores in the U.S.

Home-improvement retailer Lowe's will acquire 13 former Target stores and a distribution center in Canada for about $124 million. Target announced in January it was exiting the country after a failed expansion. Mooresville-based Lowe's has 38 stores and about 6,000 employees in Canada.

Shares of Charlotte-based Bojangles' closed Friday at $23.75, up 25% from its IPO price of $19 a share. CEO Clifton Rutledge said Friday the company plans to expand gradually and won't move too quickly into new markets.

Charlotte-based lender Commercial Credit Group has postponed its plans to go public, according to IPO adviser Renaissance Capital. Las Vegas-based International Market Centers, which owns the majority of showroom buildings at the High Point Market, also postponed its planned IPO, Renaissance said last week.

Bojangles' will sell 7.75 million shares priced at $19 each, according to a securities filing Thursday. Friday's IPO could raise as much as $169 million. The Charlotte-based fast-food chain plans to increase the number of stores by 7 to 8% a year, though it could face challenges in the competitive breakfast segment and in expanding beyond the Carolinas.

At Duke Energy's annual meeting in Charlotte on Thursday, CEO Lynn Good fielded questions about coal-ash storage plans and whether the utility would try to recoup a $10 million loan the company made to the Democratic National Convention in 2012.

Charlotte-based Bojangles' increased the number of shares it will sell in its IPO, expected to be Friday, from 6.25 million to 7.75 million. The fast-food restaurant chain also upped the price range to $18 to $19 per share from $15 to $17.